If you use System Center Configuration Manager to deploy software, such as Office, to users and computers in your organization, you can also use that existing Configuration Manager environment to deploy Office 365 ProPlus. By using Configuration Manager, you can control which users and computers get Office 365 ProPlus, where they get the installation files from, and when the Office 365 ProPlus installation occurs.

For example, you can control network bandwidth usage by placing the Office 365 ProPlus installation files on a distribution point within your organization's network, instead of having users install Office 365 ProPlus directly from the Internet. Keep in mind, however, that even if you're installing Office 365 ProPlus from a location within your network, the computer where Office 365 ProPlus is installed still needs access to the Internet to be able to active Office 365 ProPlus.

The steps that follow are for System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager, but you can also deploy Office 365 ProPlus by using System Center 2012 Configuration Manager or Configuration Manager 2007 R2.

Prepare the Office 365 ProPlus installation files to be deployed by Configuration Manager

Next, edit the configuration.xml, and review Configuration options for the Office Deployment Tool to decide how you want to install Office 365 ProPlus. The following example shows a configuration.xml that you can use to install the 32-bit, English version of Office 365 ProPlus.

It's important that you don't include the SourcePath attribute in the Add section of your configuration.xml file. That's because Configuration Manager copies the installation files for an application into a folder under the Configuration Manager client cache folder, and the name of that subfolder is different for each computer. Because the folder name is different for each computer, you can't specify a SourcePath that will work for every computer that you're deploying Office 365 ProPlus to. Instead, leave out the SourcePath attribute. When a SourcePath isn't specified, the Office Deployment Tool automatically looks for the Office 365 ProPlus installation files in the same folder that the Office Deployment Tool is located. That's why we're including the Office Deployment Tool, the configuration.xml, and the Office 365 ProPlus installation files together in the same shared folder.

Create an application for Office 365 ProPlus in Configuration Manager

The next step is to create an application in Configuration Manager. An application contains the files and information that Configuration Manager needs to deploy software to a user's computer.

On the Summary page, review the settings you've chosen, and then choose Next to create the application.

After the application is created, on the Completion page, choose Close.

Create a deployment type for the Office 365 ProPlus application in Configuration Manager

An application in Configuration Manager must contain at least one deployment type. The deployment type contains the installation files for a software package as well as rules that specify when and how the software is deployed.

For the Office 365 ProPlus application, the deployment type includes the following:

The path of the shared folder that contains the Office Deployment Tool, your configuration.xml file, and the Office 365 ProPlus installation files that you downloaded from the Internet. For example, \\server1\share1.

The command line that gets the Office Deployment Tool to start the installation of Office 365 ProPlus.

A detection method, which Configuration Manager uses to determine if Office 365 ProPlus is already installed on the user's computer.

Select the Office 365 ProPlus application, and then on the Home tab, in the Application group, choose ** Create Deployment Type**.

On the General page of the Create Deployment Type Wizard, in the Type list, select Script Installer, and then choose Next.

On the General Information page, enter a name for the deployment type, enter any optional information, and then choose Next.

On the Content page, do the following:

In the Content location box, enter the network share where you put the Office Deployment Tool, your configuration.xml file, and the Office 365 ProPlus installation files that you downloaded from the Internet.

In the Installation program box, enter the following text: setup.exe /configure configuration.xml

After you enter this information, choose Next.

On the Detection Method page, choose Add Clause.

In the Detection Rule dialog box, do the following:

In the Setting Type list, select Registry.

In the Hive list, select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.

In the Key box, enter the following text: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\O365ProPlusRetail - en-us

Select the Use (Default) registry key value for detection check box.

After you enter this information, choose OK, and then on the Detection Method page, choose Next.

On the User Experience page, in the Installation behavior list, select Install for system, and then choose Next.

If you want to specify any requirements or dependencies for the deployment type, choose Next to go through those pages in the wizard. Otherwise, choose Summary.

On the Summary page, review the settings you've chosen, choose Next, and then choose Close.

After you create the Office 365 ProPlus application and configure its deployment type, the next step is to copy all the files needed by the application to the appropriate distribution points in your Configuration Manager environment.

Deploy the Office 365 ProPlus application in Configuration Manager

After the files for the Office 365 ProPlus application are copied to the appropriate distribution points, the next step is to deploy the application. When you deploy the application, you specify which computers or users get the application and when.

Select the Office 365 ProPlus application, and then on the Home tab, in the Deployment group, choose Deploy.

On the General page of the Deploy Software Wizard, choose Browse for the Collection box, and then select which computers or users that you want to deploy Office 365 ProPlus to. After you've made your selection, choose OK, and then choose Next.

On the Content page, choose Next because we've already specified the distribution points for the application.

On the Deployment Settings page, in the Purpose list, select Required.

If you want to specify a schedule, configure the user experience, or create an alert, choose Next to go through those pages in the wizard. Otherwise, choose Summary.

On the Summary page, review the settings you've chosen, and then choose Next.

On the Confirmation page, check that the application was successfully deployed, and then choose Close.

After you deploy the application, a targeted computer becomes aware of the deployed application during the computer's next client policy polling cycle, which is once every sixty minutes by default. Then, the computer downloads the installation files for the application from a distribution point into the Configuration Manager client cache. The installation of Office 365 ProPlus takes place from the client cache and no additional files are downloaded from the network or from the Internet.